Holder for safety-razor blades.



A. B. THOMAS.

HOLDER FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11. 191B.

1 ,292, 1 50- Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

, Everready UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALMER B. THOMAS, 0F HARDWICK, VERMONT.

HOLDER FOR SAFETY-RAZOR BLADES Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

Application filed January 17, 1918. Serial No. 212,239.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALMER B. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Hardwick, Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holders for Safety-Razor Blades, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in devices for holding the blades of safety razors while stropping or honing the same.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a device by which the blade will always be held at the a proper angle and guided over the surface of the strop or hone 1n a manner to maitnain the proper edge on the blade; also to provide a holder which shall be free from loose .parts requiring assembling and which are liable to become misplaced, which shall be simple and economical of manufacture, and which shall be capable 'of being easily manipulated to insert and remove the blade.

With these and other objects in view the invention includes the novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings, the invention being defined by the appended claims.

In the said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a blade holder constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge view.

Fig. 3 is an end view, and

Fig. 4 a detail view.

Fig. 5 a view of one section of the holder with a'single edge blade such as a Gem or in place.

Referring by reference characters to this drawing the numeral 4 designates the blade holding portion of the device, the blade being shown in osition and designated by the numeral 5, and 4 designates the handle-por tion. The blade holding portion is slitted or bifurcated longitudinally to receive the blade, as indicated at 4", and as the most convenient manner of forming the blade holding portion and handle I form the same of two parts secured together at the handle end by an integral tubular rivet 6 the eye of which forms a convenient means for hanging the holder upon a nail. Any suitable means might be used for securin the parts of the handle end together, and in fact, if desired the holder might-be constructed of a single piece of sheet metal sawed through from the holder end to efiect the bifurcation, or from a blank having duplicate parts which could be rolded on a line constituting the end of the handle.

At the opposite end the parts are secured together by a rivet 7 at the upper outer corner which rivet also serves as the hinge of the cap piece 8.

The rivet is passed loosely through the openings in the portions of the holder and the parts of the holder are so arranged or constructed as to spring apart or separate, when unclamped by the openingor outward swingin of the cap piece, which in turn is arrange to force the parts of the holder to- .gether with a cam action when closed.

In order to accomplish this I make the upper outer portions of the holder beveled or inclined inward toward each other as indicated at4 andibevel or incline the inner faces of the walls of the cap piece in a similar manner, as indicated at 8. Thus when the cap piece is swung outwardly into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 the parts of the holder automatically separate sufiiciently to enable the, razor blade to be inserted therebetween.

When the cap piece is swung down into closed position the inclined coacting walls cause the blade to be clamped firmly in place.

By hinging the cap piece at the outer end of the holder it can be easily manipulated by the thumb of the hand which grasps the handle of the holder, thus leaving the other hand free to hold the blade eitherwhen inserting or removing the same. For convenience in swinging the cap piece it is provided with a lip or projection 8", and is also provided with a spring friction catch 8 to hold it in closed position.

To efi'ect the movement of the outer ends piece backward toward the handle, causing the pin to travel down the inclined slots thus securing a wedging action at the outer end of the cap piece as well as the inner, or in other words, throughout its entire length.

When the cap piece is raised the pin slides upward and outward in the slots, thus allowing the blade clamps to separate and release the blade.

The spring, as will be seen, performs two functions, to wit, the drawing of the holder backward as it is forced down, and the holding of it in clamping position.

The remaining portions a of the outer faces of the holder are beveled or inclined toward each other and said portions are very thin at their lower edges.

As shown they are broad enough to grip the blade throughout the greater part of its width so that it cannot spring or bend upward in stropping, and the cap piece is of such thickness that when resting upon the strop or hone, only the edge of the blade and the face of the cap piece rest upon the sharpening surface.

By this arrangement the blade is always, during stropping or honing, automatically held at the proper angle.

To adapt the holder for the single edge type of safety razor blade with metal bead or backing such as the Gem or Everready, I provide aslot or channel 10 on the inner face of each blade clamping member to receive the head or backing. These channels can be readilyformed in the clamping members before they are joined together. The bladecan be readily slipped in from the end when the clamp is raised.

The channel does not materially weaken the blade clamps, or affect the eflioiency of the holder for holding Gillette or similar double edged blades, and the holder is thus razors comprising a pair of naeaieo adapted for sharpening all types of safety blades of which I am aware.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A device for holding safety razor blades during sharpening comprising a handle and a pair of blade clamping members having rear portions inclined toward each other, and a channeled cap piece having inclined walls to coact with said inclined portions, said cap piece being hinged clamping members and having a thumb piece at the end adj accnt the handle, and a friction catch at said handle end of the cap piece for holding the same in closed position.

2. A device for holdingtheblades of safety razors comprising a pair of blade clamping members, a cap piece adapted to embrace the back portions of said clamping members, one of said elements having inclined side walls, said cap piece having its outer end connected to the clamping members by an inclined pin and slot connection located within the area of said inclined side walls, and said cap piece having coacting means for causing said pin to travel in the slot as the cap piece is closed.

3. A device for holding the blades of safety separable blade clamping members, a cap piece adapted to embrace the back portions of said members, one of said elements having inclined side walls, said blade clamping members having an inclined slot at one end a pin carried by said inclined side walls of the cap piece and engaging said slot, an inclined shoulder at the other end of the holder, and a sprin carried by the free end of the cap piece and coacting with said shoulder.

In testimony whereof, I afix my signature.

ALWR B. TEUMAS.

to the outer end vof said.

(all 

